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Nature Conservancy Projects Attract Federal Funding

Science Initiatives Will Help Control Invasives and Restore Habitat in Great Lakes Basin

LANSING, MICHIGAN — May 16, 2008 — Scientists at The Nature Conservancy got a big boost in their work to protect habitat and control invasive species thanks to several grants awarded to the conservation organization and its partners from the ArcelorMittal Great Lakes Restoration Program of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

In Michigan, the Conservancy will lead a project to improve reproductive success for piping plover by removing invasive species from 30 miles of prime nesting habitat and providing educational information to visitors near plover nesting sites. The Conservancy is also working with the Detroit Zoo and its partners at a new captive rearing facility for piping plover. Scientists will bring abandoned eggs to the facility, incubate the eggs, and rear the young until they can be released back into the wild.

 

Piping Plover

Piping Plover settling on eggs
Slideshow coming soon -- check back in mid-August Photo © Betty Darling Cottrille

In another grant-awarded project, the Conservancy will work with Michigan State University to monitor prairie fen plant and insect responses to restoration projects, and to create a pocket field guide that supports fen restoration and monitoring.

“This funding validates the work of our scientists in prioritizing places and species that need extra help to survive and thrive,” said Helen Taylor, state director in Michigan for The Nature Conservancy. “The action we take here on the ground will help manage the land better for wildlife and people, adding to our conservation progress in making the Great Lakes a healthy, functioning ecosystem.”

The grant award will be matched by private funding of The Nature Conservancy and its partners to support conservation science in the field. The foundation awarded $1 million to 16 projects, including seven in Michigan, which received more awards than any other state.

The ArcelorMittal Great Lakes Restoration Program of the Foundation is aimed at restoring the ecological integrity of the Great Lakes basin. Established by Congress in 1984, the nonprofit National Fish and Wildlife Foundation sustains, restores and enhances the nation's fish, wildlife, plants and habitats. The NFWF creates partnerships between the public and private sectors to strategically invest in conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources. Since its establishment, NFWF has awarded nearly 9,500 grants to more than 3,000 organizations in the United States and abroad and leveraged, with its partners, more than $400 million in federal funds into over $1.3 billion for conservation. For more information, visit www.nfwf.org.

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The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.